Poll: Mere 29% Trust Media ‘Fact-Checking’

30 Sep 2016

Only 29 percent of likely American voters “trust media fact-checking of candidates’ comments,” according to a late September survey from Rasmussen Reports, while a prior poll indicated presidential debate moderators would help Clinton over Trump.

Sixty-two percent of American likely voters, 88 percent of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump supporters, 69 percent of voters not affiliated with either the Republican or Democratic political parties, and 79 percent of Republican voters “believe the media skew the facts to help candidates they support.” These results come from a survey of 1,000 likely voters from September 28-29.

The majority of voters in most demographic categories believe the media play favorites when they fact-check candidates’ comments.

Blacks are more trusting of media fact-checking than whites and other minority voters are.

In addition, 79 percent of conservatives and 58 percent of moderates believe media skews fact-checking to support their supported candidates. Only 40 percent of Democrats and 39 percent of liberals felt the same.

The survey had a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

Rasmussen pointed to its own survey from July which showed 69 percent of voters believe,“reporters try to help the candidate they want to win” and they “think it’s far more likely they will help the Democrat than the Republican.”

A September Rasmussen poll taken in the week before 2016’s first general election presidential debate revealed a plurality of voters expected moderators in the upcoming debates to aid Clinton over Trump. Only six percent thought moderators would try to help Trump compared to the 46 percent that believed moderators would try to help Clinton.